The man I love: Tyrone Power and Judy Garland
The extraordinarily handsome and sensitive Tyrone Power was the man of Judy Garland’s dreams. They had a serious, clandestine affair in 1943 that became one of Hollywood's most tragic romances. The couple met in October 1942 at a party in Brentwood, California. Garland, who had blossomed into a slender young beauty of matchless talent - not only was she the greatest female singer in Hollywood, but a fine actress - was was instantly smitten by Power, who was widely regarded as one of the most charming men in the film community. Poetic and well read, Tyrone was delighted to find a woman as intelligent and attractive as Garland. He and Judy bonded over their shared love of philosophy and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “Le Petit Prince”. Power gave her a copy of his favourite novella, “Forever” by Mildred Craven, which she learned to recite by heart. The actor found her an enthusiastic and inventive bedmate and was entranced by her gift for mimicry. When Judy expressed a desire to look more like love goddess Lana Turner, Power replied, “You’re crazy. You have more talent and sex appeal in your little finger.” (Ironically, Tyrone would later have an affair with Turner.) What began as infatuation turned to love, but the couple faced numerous obstacles. Power was married to the French actress Anabella, and was a moral coward who vacillated about asking his formidable wife for a divorce. MGM executives, meanwhile, kept a strict eye on Garland's personal life to protect her pure “girl-next-door" image. (Louis B. Mayer railed that she was merely “in love with the cover of Photoplay.”) In an attempt to break up the romance, studio fixers used Garland's alleged friend, Betty Asher, as an informant. Asher told Judy a series of lies—including a false story that Annabella was pregnant—in an attempt to sabotage the relationship. All this failed and it was ultimately Tyrone who let her down. Finally promising to leave his wife, he invited Judy to spend the weekend in New York City to celebrate. However, when Power raised the subject of divorce with Anabella she merely ignored him, leaving him utterly tongue tied. Judy arrived in New York to find out that her lover had let her down badly. He knew it, and made her more promises, but Garland had had enough, particularly as she was also pregnant. Furious with Tyrone, and under immense pressure from both MGM and her domineering mother Ethel, Garland had an abortion. She refused to speak to Power again, and trying to make light of her heartbreak, nicknamed him “Tyroney the Phoney.” In 1945, Judy married director Vincente Minelli.